In Another Time
by katieupatree
Summary: 'Speaking before he was even certain of the words, Hotch called out to her; too overwhelmed by all that the day might become to wait for his strict and rational guard to build itself back up, "Emily?"' Could a chance meeting in London bring about the happily ever after that Hotch and Emily have always longed for? Hotch/Prentiss romance. AU from 7x24, set 18 months after.
1. One

Hello everyone...

This is the first Criminal Minds story that I have posted - for the past few years I have only really written for Castle, but I started out with CSI and The Mentalist - but I have loved CM from the very beginning and really wanted to try my hand at this story.

This is a Hotch & Emily centric fic - for me, they should have been end game, so expect Hotly romance.  
It is set 18 months after Emily leaves in the season seven finale and finds our intrepid crime fighters unexpectedly together in London.

Kick back, have a nosey, and I hope that you enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **Everything and everyone belongs to their rightful owners.

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**In Another Time  
****Chapter One**

The air was thick with hazy sunshine and freshly blooming flowers as Hotch wandered slowly through the streets of London, the heated grit of the Piccadilly line seemingly miles away as he turned into the welcoming acres of Hyde Park.

He had been asked to go over to London to represent the FBI during initial talks regarding an international task force; yet another piece of the puzzle that would most likely fail to even make it off the drawing board, but the invitation hadn't allowed much room to decline.  
So, he had, as always, gone with the best intentions of his agency at heart and suffered through the endless monotony of bureaucratic meetings and playing at politics. An event which had, much to the delight of everyone involved, ended a day earlier than it had been scheduled to.

This detour from proceedings was the reason Hotch had been able to find himself in such beautiful surroundings; flight booked for eight o'clock the following evening and not a single thing that needed to be done until then.

Meandering his way through the bustling walkways that followed along The Serpentine, he couldn't help but think of a quote he had heard once: "_London is a teenager, an urchin, and in this hasn't changed since the time of Dickens". _It flittered through his mind with each step, each breathe he took of the city, falling almost helplessly under her spell. He'd been there for over a week, but hadn't noticed it until then; the utter truth of those words. There was something about being in London, surrounded by the people and the places that made up its blood and bones; something he couldn't name, but wanted desperately to savour. It was old fashioned, and yet brand new – as if the city itself was simultaneously clinging to history and screaming for change; a heart-warming contradiction that you could spend a lifetime searching for and never find anywhere else.  
London put him at ease; a feeling of tranquillity that beckoned the usually stoic profiler to let loose and simply enjoy the wonders of the capital, a rare afternoon of freedom spread out woozily before him.

* * *

After whiling away a couple of hours, Hotch was just about to cut across to the coffee cart that had called out temptingly to the rumble of his stomach when something – or, rather – someone had caught his attention. Palms clammy with the glimmer of a memory that now seemed to hardly belong to his lifetime at all, he took a wary step closer, needing to be sure.

In the months since she had left them – left him, he had been finding little fragments of her scattered throughout his days; almost meetings and fleeting glances that echoed through the wind. None of them were really her, of course he knew that, but sometimes it was nice to just pretend. The raven haired girl who served him at the farmers market or the red sweater that stood proudly in the window display; they were all tiny flecks of gold amidst the dim and grey. They were a version of her that he could keep a hold of, to be carried safely with memories he could never bring himself to put away.

But in that moment, stood with a quivering heart and smiling eyes, in that moment he was certain. She was not just a piece, but the whole and glorious truth. She was freckles on ivory skin. She was vanilla spice and macadamia shampoo. She was hands that he hoped were not bitten by nerves. _She was unmistakable._

Speaking before he was even certain of the words, Hotch called out to her; too overwhelmed by all that the day might become to wait for his strict and rational guard to build itself back up, "Emily?"

* * *

The unexpected syllables of her name blocked out everything else as she tentatively turned around, scared to even hope that what she was hearing was true; that it wasn't, just as so many times before, the teasing ache of her lonely heart.

Oh. It was. It really was.

She was spellbound, unable to anything but stand and stare, breathing stuttered as if afraid to break the seconds and entire body tingled with butterflies, eyes held to the intense gaze she had longed for so many times since leaving her old life behind. It couldn't be. It was impossible. How could he be here? How could he be stood before her? And, yet, there he was; Aaron Hotchner, affecting her every bit as much as he always had done.

"Hotch…" she finally managed, his name a delicious familiarity to her lips, and yet faltering to know how they should continue.

He smiled back at her, small and almost apologetic, and suddenly Emily realised that she still hadn't moved from her spot by the coffee cart countertop. God, she was such a fool. Eighteen months she had dreamt of this, of the possibility that one day she would see him again, and she couldn't even gather her scrambled thoughts together enough to put one foot in front of the other.

"I'm sorry," he said, words crumbling at the edges, "I didn't mean to interrupt your day. I should be going."

And then his eyes slipped from their hold on hers and her heart and mind were calling out to her in unison to stop him before he went, to give them both one more chance before it was truly lost forever.

"Goodbye, Emily."

"No!" she called, shaking herself free of the surprise that had misted her entirely, "No, Hotch, wait… please?"

When she reached him, those five or so steps feeling like the longest she had ever taken, he looked at her as he had so many times before, eyes dark and quizzical, and Emily knew that she had him caught; it was his tell, and she cherished the smile that tugged at her cheeks with the memory of one of the last conversations they had ever had in person.

"Join me for a coffee?" she asked, knowing that it wasn't enough – but, right now, it was all that she had.

"I'd like that," he agreed, uncertainty a mere etching of his tone and feet falling perfectly in step with her own as they turned back towards the coffee cart that had started it all.

* * *

To be continued..

Please do let me know what you thought if you have a moment to do so? As I said, this is my first CM story, so I want to get it as right as I possibly can.

Until next time,  
Katie xx

P.s. For anyone wondering, the quote I used was taken from John Berger.

"Every city has a sex and an age which have nothing to do with demography. Rome is feminine. So is Odessa. London is a teenager, an urchin, and in this hasn't changed since the time of Dickens. Paris, I believe, is a man in his twenties in love with an older woman."


	2. Two

Just a little note to say thank you to everyone who is reading this, and especially to those who were so lovely about the first chapter - it really does mean a lot.

And Happy 200th Episode!

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**In Another Time  
Chapter Two**

Emily was all too aware of the weight of hesitancy that stood between them as they made their way over to one of the nearby picnic tables, neither quite able to believe that they had so unexpectedly stumbled into each other's lives again. Not that they hadn't wished to be reunited for as long as they had been apart, but it had always been a distant dream; just a little too out of reach to allow themselves the pain of believing in. They had said goodbye. They had accepted the loss. They had almost – _almost_ – moved on, doing their very best to ignore the nagging regret of words left unsaid. But, now? There they were, two people tethered by history, feeling suddenly so small against the momentous hands of fate.

She was too flustered to do anything but watch Hotch as he settled himself in the seat opposite her, absorbing all that she could in the seconds of contented silence that remained between them.  
Time had aged him handsomely, she thought – hoping he wouldn't notice the familiar blush of her cheeks; he never failed to weaken her knees in an instant. The differences she found would have been near to imperceptible to those who saw him every day, but they were everything to Emily. His eyes crinkled a little more with lines left by laughter. His hair was flecked with the slightest ghost of grey. His cufflinks had changed from gold to silver with his yearly birthday gift from Jessica. Every comparison between then and now was something she had missed, something she would never be able to experience for herself – they all kept in contact as best they could, but emails and phone calls were never quite enough. Having him with her, so close that their toes met beneath the table, it was like looking at a map to a life that she was no longer a part of, and that realisation had thrummed her heart with more sadness than she expected.

"Prentiss," he quipped, flashing her an amused look that said she had been daydreaming for longer than she thought, "stop profiling me."

Most people knew Hotch to be professionalism personified, all neatly pressed suits and armoured emotions, but he was so much more if only you had the patience to uncover the truth. A discovery that was wonderfully evident in his darkly dry sense of humour. Smiling softly at his ability to always make her feel so absolutely at home, she fired back a "Sir, how can you suggest I'd do such things!", relaxing into the afternoon as she did.

* * *

Unease lifted by his gently teasing words, the pair fell into the easy conversation of old friends, both too enamoured with the chance to properly catch up to be aware of anything but the stories and laughter they shared.

They began with news of the team – Emily doing all that she could to keep the sting of nostalgia from her mind. She missed them, so much that the ache was a tangible thing, but now was not the time for sorrow. Instead, she chose happiness. They were the best of people, and she was so grateful for all of the goodness in their lives.

It took less than ten minutes to glance over the rest of their working worlds, not wanting to darken the sunshine with details best left unspoken. They both knew what it was to carry the demons of the job; the unwavering bond of understanding that humanity was too often a harsh and terrible place. They didn't need to say any more than that.

Hotch delighted in telling her all about Jack; he was usually careful to not get too carried away, knowing that most people were asking out of politeness and not to hear every detail, but Emily was so breathtakingly different. The BAU were a family in every sense of the word – Emily becoming even more so when she had taken it upon herself to help both father and son through the most horrific times imaginable, and the thousands of miles that had separated them over the past year and a half hadn't changed that for even a second. She would always be Auntie Emily; a role which she loved more than any other. A love which shone from her eyes as she listened, so deep with kindness, wanting nothing more than to hear about every little league game and bedtime story.

In return, Emily gifted him with an insight into all that British life had brought her way. Hotch knew that her decision to leave had been an almost impossible one - the conflict she had expressed the morning they had met for breakfast was still so clear in his mind; to stay for them or to go for herself, knowing deep down that her heart would break no matter the choice. But it had been the right thing to do, she deserved a chance to finally be free. London had been good to her – _for her_ – it was new and thrilling and exactly the challenge that she had needed. Everything about the city was a breath of fresh air that suited her perfectly. There was a lightness that she had never quite been able to find before, and Hotch wondered if Emily realised just how enchanting she was.

* * *

They could have spent forever and a day in that sunny afternoon, but both knew that real life would soon come calling. Dusk was already beginning to draw in, the world around them heading home to family and friends, and Hotch couldn't help the nagging thought that perhaps he should offer Emily the opportunity to do the same before he overstepped her hospitality.

"It's getting late," he said, waiting until their conversation had found a natural pause.

"A little," she mused wistfully, wanting to push their inevitable goodbye as far away as possible, "but the evenings here are so beautiful in the summer."

"They are," he agreed, holding her gaze for a beat longer than he should have, hoping that Emily would understand his barely hidden meaning.

She did.

There had always been something between them; a shared longing to be more than just colleagues and friends, to reach out and take the happily ever after that was waiting so expectantly for them. But neither had ever been brave enough to make the first move. At least, they hadn't until now.

Taking courage from the desire mirrored in his strong features, Emily decided that she had to be the one to take a chance for the both of them. This was her home now, and the wonderful man sat opposite her was too filled with stubbornness and chivalry to stay without an invitation to do so. "We could go out for dinner?" she asked, rambling a little with nervousness, "I mean, if you don't already have plans for your final night. I'd hate for your only experience of London to be stuffy boardroom meetings and hotel room service."

"Dinner sounds perfect," replied Hotch, more grateful than he could ever find the words to fully portray.

And so they peeled themselves away from the park, parting only as they headed towards their respective tube lines, dinner plans for later that night filling them both with a giddy hopefulness that hadn't been felt in far too many years.

* * *

To be continued..

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter?  
I will try my best to have the next update posted soon.

Until next time,  
Katie xx


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